Rhodeside & Harwell wins Potomac ASLA Merit Award

May 14, 2018

(Left to Right: Sukirti Ghosh, Eric Feldman, Deana Rhodeside, Elliot Rhodeside)

Left to Right: Sukirti Ghosh, Eric Feldman, Chris Rzomp (Gensler), Deana Rhodeside, Elliot Rhodeside

We are honored to accept the Merit Award in Analysis, Planning, and Urban Design from the Potomac Chapter of ASLA for our work on the Sandy Springs Comprehensive Plan and Small Area Plans.

As it completed its first decade as an incorporated city in metropolitan Atlanta, the City of Sandy Springs embarked on a proactive response to the challenges of a fast-growing region with significant pressures to urbanize—including legacy zoning inherited from a suburban county, regional transportation challenges, and a jobs-housing imbalance. Yet the City also recognized that any actions must also maintain the exemplary quality of life and natural character valued by Sandy Springs’ residents.

With a willingness to think big and act decisively, the City undertook a sweeping, comprehensive effort to simultaneously develop a new set of planning and regulatory tools: a comprehensive plan, four detailed small area plans, and a new development code. Branded as a citywide dialogue called “The Next Ten,” celebrating Sandy Springs’ second decade, the initiative was innovative in its scope, scale and immediate impact, while providing a new paradigm for addressing the core development challenges:

– Targeting mixed-use development and multimodal transportation improvements to strategic growth areas.

– Creating a network of trails, greenways and blueways that will connect the neighborhoods and destinations as well as to the valued ecological resource areas.

– Encouraging more varied, “missing middle” housing.

– Adopting a regional approach to addressing citywide problems.

To learn more about the project: Sandy Springs Comprehensive Plan and Small Area Plans